Regular Ramblings from LookingAhead

LookingAhead · 30 November 2006 at 9:54PM

OK. I know there are a million debt diaries on here already...but I feel the need to add one more. (I hope nobody minds.)

Well I say "diary". Actually this is going to be more of a ramble. I can do rambling pretty well.

I just need to get something together where I can write down all sorts of stuff like, expenditure and why I did it and how it made me feel. Goals, aims, targets, hopes & fears, wishes, acheivements and all the rest of it. Absolutely anything debt related at all.

I don't expect anyone to necessarily comment - hell I don't even expect an audience! But if anyone does have any useful advice or a fresh perspective, wherever appropriate, feel free to post and I take all constructive criticisms on board and will appreciate your time.

I have started a squillion paper diaries in my life but they peter out after about, ooooh, 20 minutes? So I am hoping this, because it is public and within a medium of like minded individuals, will help me keep my focus. I am guilty of losing focus several times since my light bulb moment and one of my biggest fears is getting to this time next year still being in the same predicament.

I'm not that far away from how I was this time in 2005 debt wise however some things out of my control have contributed towards that and, more importantly, since Nov 2005, I have learned a lot and put a fair amount into practice. I want this to continue and I want 2007 to be the year I really REALLY sort things out.

OK that's enough for my opening post (wake up...WAKE UP!!). I am going to go off and regroup (aka getting a rum and coke, courtesy of the BF) and then get down on virtual paper my next set of rambling thoughts and ideas.

TTFN.

x LA x

whatatwit · 30 November 2006 at 10:13PM

:T

Come on, we're waiting for the next instalment.

MinnieSpender · 30 November 2006 at 10:17PM

Good luck, LA!

The first post is the hardest. You'll soon be rambling away like a good 'un.

Rum and coke though? I beg to differ!

LookingAhead · 30 November 2006 at 10:25PM

I am happy to report the rum & coke is going down rather nicely. I am sitting here trying to compose in my head, what to write next.

What am I talking about? These are ramblings. So I'll just ramble on shall I?

Well my head's been a bit all over the place moneywise this last month or so and it's all come home to roost now. I've been spending what I haven't got for one reason or another since the end of the Summer, not keeping a spending diary. FATAL boys & girls, FATAL. If you haven't got one, get one now. No really. Put down whatever it is you have and get one now!

Anyway...I have not lived up to my name and 'Looked Ahead' at all. Forgetting to budget for things, forgetting I'd agreed to do this or that socially...bah you name it, I've forgotten it. Rubbish.

So here I am, over a grand in my overdraft which I think is the worst I have ever been and I am someone who's HAD a lightbulb moment? Humph. Even more rubbish.

So I've been giving myself a stern talking to and am now trying to sort it out even if it is penny by penny and I do mean, penny by penny!

I absolutely cannot wait for 2007, seriously. I just want Christmas & New Year GONE so I can throw money at the overdraft and get my Sainsburys VISA out of the way.

My Sainsburys VISA is usually cleared every month. Unfortunately due to aforementioned horrendous planning, there is about £150 worth of unbudgeted stuff on there and I just can't pay it all off this month. That would (along with paying for food) have taken me about £1200 overdrawn and I just can't bring myself to get that much OD.

So I am paying £175 off with this pay day and I will clear the balance (as seen in my sig) with December's pay day. I will incur a bit of interest I know but after that it will be GONE and I may even cut the darn thing up!

moozie_2 · 30 November 2006 at 10:25PM

Oh this will be good!

I can see the cuppa and biscuits joining us while I am reading your ramblings LA

Keep 'em coming, I love it! :T

LookingAhead · 30 November 2006 at 10:42PM

So does anyone else swing between saving every penny and being totally obsessed with cutting debt and thinking "Damn it life's too short" and proceed to go out and have a right old time of it?

Well that's me.

But clearly it's a pattern that's not worked for me and I need to strike a balance.

There was an incident at the end of October (some of you may remember a thread I started at the time) which really put things in perspective for me. I felt at the time that the debt, albeit important to clear, was not the be all and end all. And I still do think that, I really do think that your health & happy relationships must come first. If anyone stands at my funeral reading out my bank statements, well...I'll be furious!

I want to enjoy life, enjoy my friends, see places, do things. But hell, don't we all? And I have a responsibility to clear my debts. I don't *want* to be dishing out £500 every month in credit card payments and £300 in loans repayments AND contending with an overdraft anymore.

I have got to learn to budget and justify doing 'stuff'. And/or learn how to enjoy myself cheaply/more smartly. I had a glimpse of this earlier on in the year when I had a load of cash back from QuidCo (marvellous site, marvellous) and I paid for my George Michael ticket with that. It felt great to have bought it and not have to worry about it. Shame I forgot to budget for the train fare & hotel but there you go. I cannot make this mistake again!!

OK I want to think about positive stuff for a while. I may post again soon.

LookingAhead · 30 November 2006 at 11:16PM

So what have I done this month/week to try and get back on the straight and narrow?

Little things I guess but better than sticking my head in the sand.

I have:

Started a (password protected!) spreadsheet on my PC at work showing the set outgoings without the overdraft & credit card payments - this is to show me just what I can look forward to when they are gone.
On same spreadsheet I have put a spending diary which I can update every day.
I banked £4.56 in change today rather than fritter it away. OK it's barely a drop in the overdraft ocean but it's a step in the right direction.
Have told my family that I cannot afford to treat everyone to gifts this year and those who I *am* treating I have bought via QuidCo or in charity shops or clearance shops for....really not a lot of money!
Printed off about 12 recipes from a vegetarian website for cheap, easy yet nutritous dinners. I have so got to cut back as much as possible on the grocery shop (and at the same time stop the BF from getting carried away in the aisle of dreams = beer section).
Used a 20% off voucher to get a dress for Xmas Party (free meal & wine) which was already in the sale.....total £5.60. Bargain of the year for me!
Opened up an e-savings account with First Direct (whom I bank with) with £1 to avoid their new charge. I will be paying £5 a month into it as I need to start saving...a fiver is better than nothing and I will increase this when I can.
Applied for (and was accepted) for a Cahoot savings account via QuidCo...not sure if I will get the £15 cashback as I didn't pay in any cash immediately when I opened it but we shall see. Again I will use this when I can (in 2007!)

I want to carry on the positives! OK these may not be all about not spending money or saving, I will also post more 'smart spending' as and when appropriate.

OK I think I am all 'posted out' now.
Someone at the back groans "Oh thank GOD!"

Watch this space.....:D

moozie_2 · 1 December 2006 at 12:27AM

I am so enjoying reading your ramblings LA - thank you! :beer: I really do hope you ramble often :rotfl:

You have had a tough year with one thing and another but you are still making progress and you are better off than where you were a year ago. You have your MSE hat on and you sounds so positive and enthused, it's so lovely! Just remember we are all allowed blips and I know I have had my fair share of them

I agree with you about 'health & happy relationships must come first' and I think that is a really 'healthy' way of looking at things. I hope I am not conflicting with myself now because I have a flip side to this. I went through a terrible thing earlier this year, post LBM and I was lost for a while. I came out of it wanting to be debt free more than ever before. Mainly because if something happened to me, I didn't want my legacy to include £18k of debt. I feel so strongly about that and I am not sure I should feel this way but it has helped me stay focused recently

Look, I am rambling now too! :rotfl: This is a warning for everyone: THIS THREAD IS CONTAGIOUS!

:rotfl:

sophiesmum_2 · 1 December 2006 at 12:41AM

:T :T
Moozie, LA, you two make a great double act. Keep up the ramblings it is very entertaining.:D

sophiesmum:D

cathybird · 1 December 2006 at 12:49AM

LookingAhead wrote:

So what have I done this month/week to try and get back on the straight and narrow?

Little things I guess but better than sticking my head in the sand.

I have:
Printed off about 12 recipes from a vegetarian website for cheap, easy yet nutritous dinners. I have so got to cut back as much as possible on the grocery shop (and at the same time stop the BF from getting carried away in the aisle of dreams = beer section).
Watch this space.....:D

hey LookingAhead, thanks for posting your ramblings!! looking forward to reading more of those.

just out of interest, wot was the cheap easy nutritious vegetarian website? ... sounds useful!! cheers cathy x

oops_a_daisy · 1 December 2006 at 1:01AM

Hi lookingahead - love the new thread and will keep coming back to check out your ramblings

Regular Ramblings from LookingAhead

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